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All students are deserving of aid | Letters

State Sen. Barbara Bailey is blocking the state Senate from voting on House Bill 1817, which would expand eligibility for financial aid for college enrollment to successful high school students who meet the criteria for in-state tuition, regardless of the immigration status of their parents.

She says we can’t afford it.

Quote from the actual Bill Summary (emphasis added): “The grant/scholarship costs associated with expanding State Need Grant (SNG) eligibility to these categories of students is indeterminate. In State Need Grant costs would depend on whether the program was fully funded and how many newly eligible students would be included. The number of students eligible for in-state tuition that would be SNG eligible is unknown and the number of eligible SNG students granted deferred action in the state of Washington is unknown.”

Translation for those who may remember the Jim Crow laws in the South: This bill just lets more more college applicants “sit anywhere on the bus.” It does not move any student who was born in the United States to the “back of the bus.”

Bailey is saying that some poor kids are more deserving because they were born in the right place, and we can’t afford to help those who were born in the wrong place.

In other words, “I’ve got mine, too bad for you,” which has been her mantra for as long as she has been an elected official.

Many in the community agree with Sen. Bailey, but it is interesting to note what three states already allow such assistance for immigrant kids: California, of course, New Mexico and Texas. Can you imagine Washington being more racist or xenophobic than Texas?

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